Try “Pomp and Circumstance,” dust off the mortar, and get ready for inspirational quotes – graduation season is just around the corner.
Don’t want to be the next of kin who gives a useful cash gift if it’s unimaginative? We’ve compiled a list of New England gifts to help prepare the graduates in your life for their post-college plans.
These products are sponsored by New England Companies, and are available for purchase online — or if shipping time is running low, many of these stores will make the day trip worthwhile.
Blown Glass for Graduation Roasting
Native to Duxbury, Rebecca Potash has been glassblowing since she was 14, when her parents gifted her lessons at Simple Syrup Studio in Brockton, continuing her education in crafts dating back thousands of years while she was completing her chemistry degrees at Cornell University. . She sells her glass drinkware and home décor on her website and at multiple locations on the South Shore.
With vibrant colors and one-of-a-kind patterns evoking the nearby Atlantic, these pieces will be appreciated by any graduate—a huge step up from the red Solo cup they were accustomed to during their college years.
Memories of Min
Actress Megan Surrett spent several years in Europe before returning to her home state of Maine, enjoying a deeper appreciation for the beauty of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean off New England. This passion is evident, literally and figuratively, in her products from La Marée Art.
Surette crafts unique oceanscapes using epoxy resins and color pigments, paired with different types of wood, to create beautiful home goods including serving trays, crepe boards, and wall art, all made in Maine and perfect for helping graduates keep New England close, wherever life takes them.
Inspired by the artists on a weekend trip to Oqunquit, Holly Stout created graphic design inspired pillows from The Salty Cottage in New England, handcrafted in Beverly with nearly all materials made in the USA.
Stout now leads a team of local artisans and apprentices, who sell their pillows in the Beverly studio where they’re made, on Salty Cottage’s website, Etsy, and in more than 50 stores nationwide.
Forest Bound collection is filled with items made in New England. Alice Saunders started Forest Pound from her Boston living room 15 years ago, in a quest to highlight the reclaimed materials and vintage textiles she would find at flea markets and estate sales throughout New England.
Whether it’s a laptop bag to take to the office or as a handy addition to their daily errands, their collection of leather backpacks and handbags will make a stylish addition to the graduate’s new adult life.
A subsidiary of Custom Cordage that manufactures ropes and doboroes, Maine Rope Mats are a useful, stylish, and eco-friendly addition to any home. The business grew out of a desire to create more local jobs and use discarded fishing lines after the federal government banned the use of float lines due to the threat to northern whale populations.
Founder David Bird started small, selling doormats at local festivals, and since then the product has just started popping up. In addition to their signature mats, the company offers baskets, keychains, dog leashes, and more.
Michael and Kara Gaffney set up the Seawicks Candle Company as a reflection of their lives on the coast of Maine, with an idea that arose after lighting too many candles during a winter blackout.
All Seawicks candles are hand poured in the company’s studio in Richmond, on the Kennebec River and made with soy wax from American-grown soybeans. With distinctive scents and colorful artwork adorning the glass, these candles will remind your graduate and make them feel right at home.
Puzzle game from New Hampshire
Brainstorm Puzzle, a division of New Hampshire’s print shop and design studio, offers jigsaw puzzles featuring colorful and whimsical studio illustrations. Typography makers Briana Feola and Jason Synder initially only added one puzzle to their existing line, but once the pandemic hit, design work slowed and puzzles became a rapidly closing business. They added new styles as fast as they could and have since become a second-choice business. Choose one as a gift to keep your graduate students busy while they wait to see if they land their dream job.
